Door latch



April 15 1924.

A. LA FORTUNE DOOR LATCH Filed Aug. 5, 1922 INVENTOR.

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I l ATTORNEY.'

Patented Apr. 15, 1924.

PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT LA FORTUNE, OF FLINT, MICHIGAN.

DOOR LATCH.

Application filed August 3, 1922. Serial No. 579,409.

To all whom it may concern.

Beit known that I, ALBERT LA FDRTUNE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Flint, in the county of Genesee and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door Latches, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to door latches, and is particularly directed to latches for automobile doors whereby the door may be readily and certainly opened and safely relatched.

In accordance with the invention the door latch is housed in a cavity in the door with the active end of the latch bolt exposed at one edge and a manipulating handle exposed on the upper edge of the door.

Between the door handle or knob exposed on the upper edge of the door and the door latch exposed on the front edge of the door are lever and link constructions whereby an up and down movement of the knob on top of the door is translated into a to and fro movement of the latch bolt against the tendency of a spring which projects the bolt and against which the bolt isretracted by a downward movement of an arm.

The mechanism employed is of a nature to conserve space and reduce the parts needed to a minimum. whereby to cheapen the cost of the device and to avoid liability of breakage.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification with the understanding that the invention is not confined to any strict conformity to the showing of the drawings but may be changed and modified so long as such changes and modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the relation of the latch structure to the seat of an automobile.

Fig. 2 is an up and down section through the latch -structure housed in a door.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing a difl'erent phase in the operation of the latch.

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of'the .latch bolt employed.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown in Fig. 1 a portion of an automobile 1 provided with a door 2 of which only a small portion is shown.

The door may be considered as of the ordinary hinge variety so that it may beopened and closed and when closed will latch in the closed position, all as is customary in automobile doors. g

Ordinarily such doors are held in the closed position by a spring latch accessible for operation through the medium of arotatable handle or a rockable handle operating latch mechanism.

In accordance with this invention the latch mechanism is normally housed in a cavity 3 produced in the body of the door.

of while the other end of the rod or bar 10 carries a pivot pin 11 which may be mounted in one or both sides of the door 2 near the bottom of the cavity 3 so that by rocking arm 4 on the pivot 5 the rod or bar 10 may, v

have a rocking movement imparted thereto about the pivot 11.

The rod or bar 10t1'averses a recess 12 in one side of a reduced portion 13 of a. latch bolt 14, such bolt having a latch head 15 of the customary bevelled shape and actail end 16 of cross shape slidable lengthwise of a guide tube 17 lodged in thedoor structure in communication with the cavity 3. The tube 17 is closed at one end and open at the other and into the open end the head 15 is movable to and fro.

The head 15 has a rear continuation 18 surrounded by one end of the spring 18 which may be of helical shape with the end remote. from the head 15 abutting the closed end of the tube 17.

The latch head 15 is capable of traveling lengthwise of the head through a guide tube Rising through the top of'the door 2 is a stem 20 terminatingabove the upper surface of the door 2 in a head or knob 21 and in order to protect the stem 20' and door 2 the stem 20 is surrounded by'a sleeve 22 to guide the stem and prevent wear.

The lower end of the stem 20 is split or grooved as indicated at 23 to pass the end 6 of the angle member 4, and a screw or pin 24 serves as a stop to limit relative movement of the stem 20 and angle member 4 with reference one to the other.

The pin 5 on which the angle member 4 is rockable may be in the form of a screw such as shown in Fig. 2.

The parts are so proportioned that the I spring 18 acts to maintain the latch head 15 in a partially projected position and the projection of the latch head 15 is determined by the engagement of the end 16 of the latch bolt with the pivoted arm 10.

The spring 18 tends to move the latch head 14 partially out of the tube 19 to hold the door invthe closed position. When the occupant of the: vehicle desires to open the door he presses down upon the knob 21 to force the stem 20 into the cavity 3 sofar as the. knob 21 will permit. This causes a rocking movement of the angle member 4 which is transmitted through the pin 9 to the rod 10, rocking the latter on the pin 11 and compressing the spring 18*, at the same time withdrawing the latch head 14 from the projected position. When the. knob head 21 is released, the spring 18 will restore the parts to the projected'position of the latch 14 so that when the door is closed the bevelled end 15 of the head 14 will engage the body of the vehicle and the latch will snap into place by reason of the yielding of the spring 18. I

The improved latcli has the advantage of having no handle inside or outside of the vehicle while the knob or press button .21 serves the purpose of both an inside and an "outside latch. The device also prevents scratching or knocking on the structure or cracking the fingers on the inside of the vehicle or tearing the clothes'on the outside. It also saves drilling holes through .the door on the outside as well as cutting holes in the leather panel on the inside.

Moreover the press or push button rises through a bushing on top of the door and provides a neat finish to the whole structure.

What is c1aimedis:-- 1. In a door latch, a vertically reciproeating actuating rod having a bifurcated end and adapted to extend into a cavity in the body of a door, a pin connection in the rod lying crosswise of the bifurcation, an angled rock member having a long and a short arm and pivoted at its angle within said cavity, the short arm of said member being positioned to move freely in the bifurcation in said rod, a rocking bar pivoted at one end to the door and having its other end loosely connected with the long arm of the rock member, a reciprocable latch bolt having a restricted central portion in which said rock bar moves, and means for normally retaining said bolt in extended position.

2. In a door latch, a vertically reciprocating actuating rod having a bifurcated end and adapted to extend into a cavity in the body of a door, a pin connection in the rod lying crosswise of the bifurcation, an angled rock member having a long and a short arm and pivoted at its angle within and to provide engaging means between thebolt and bar to retract the bolt.

3. In a door latch, a sliding bolt adapted to be mounted for movement in a door to projected or retracted position and having a reduced intermediate portion, means normally projecting said bolt, a lever pivotally supported at one end in the door to lie within the reduced portion of the bolt, a substantially bell crank shaped rocking member supported above the'lever and having a slot in one arm thereof, a pin carried by the other end of the lever and working in said slot, a stem slidably. supported in the door and having an actuating knob in its, outer end, and also provided with a furcation in its innerend for loosely receiving the other arm of said member, and a retaining pin in the furcated end of the stem and disposed crosswise of the furcation to retain said other arm therein.

In testimony whereof, I aifix my signature hereto.

ALBERT LA FORTUNE. 

